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Just booked my flight to Durham for 2/21 - 2/23! I also booked a room at the R David Thomas Conference Center, which is right next to the Fuqua campus. Has anyone stayed there before? Do Fuqua students hang out there at all? Really looking forward to participating in Fuqua Friday!

How much were the rooms there? I spent $700 on my flight, a room on the cheaper side would be great... im guessing this is not on the cheap side though

It's $139 a night plus tax. Not the cheapest but definitely a lot better than the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Course which is over $200. plus you can't beat the location. Another good option is the Millennium Hotel which is 1.5 miles away, cheapest rooms there are $105/night, but you would probably have to take a taxi to campus. Wow $700 on your flight?? where are you traveling from? my flight from CA was $480.

The Thomas center is connected to Fuqua with a covered bridge. Definitely wins points for convenient location and people who stayed there said they liked it. I don't think students hang out there -- my impression was that mostly visitors and part time/weekend students stayed there.

The Millennium has a free shuttle to/from campus and you can tell the driver to take you to Fuqua. It takes 10 min, maybe less...it's basically down the street.

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12 Feb 2013, 11:45

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hailmary620 wrote:

When answering "Why now" question can you guys talk about the personal reasons such as wanting to finish MBA before we start having kids? or don't want to be 30+ years old when starting a demanding job such as consulting/banking. Not sure, if its a good enough reason for doing the MBA now, as opposed to next year.

While I think these are completely valid/ acceptable reasons for yNow, IMO adcom will want a professional reason to be at the forefront of your yNow. With that being said, to give a professional reason on top of a completely unrelated personal one (e.g., having kids), may result in a less concise answer than preferable. If possible I would stick to a strictly professional reason, which I am sure you have. Good luck!

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16 Feb 2013, 09:59

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Done with my interview today. It was with a second year and lasted exactly 50 minutes. He was friendly and didn't throw any curveballs, but did quite a bit of cross questioning on my goals and why Duke answers. If your goal is not Healthcare, I think you should have a strong reason for Why Duke and Why not any other school. Also, my interviewer had nothing in common with me (not sure if its a good or bad thing). I was able to make him laugh on few occasions, but overall he was very professional and kept a poker face. Overall I am not sure if I did good or not. He did make a comment towards the end saying "wow, seems like you did a lot of research on Fuqua"

The questions included: 1) Why MBA? Why now? 2) Why Duke? Why not other schools?3) Strengths5) One thing you fear about being a Duke student 6) Post MBA plans 7) What do you do for fun? 8) Anything else you want to share with Adcom9) Do you have any questions for me

If anyone has a chance to inteview on Fr/Sat make sure to attend Fuqua Friday. There were about 600-700 people and everybody I met was very friendly. I think this whole "Team Fuqua" thing is legit. Also, everyone had a pretty good sense of humor. The waits begins now.
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17 Feb 2013, 18:17

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SnowDay wrote:

hailmary620 wrote:

Lastly, don't quote me on this, but I heard that for Rd3 Duke is usually selective on who to interview and the admit rate is around 70%. The reason being that most of the applicants are invited by Duke and the adcom already has enough backlog of wait-listed applicants from EA/Rd1 that it doesn't have to invite less than stellar applicants.

When you said 70% for "Rd3" did you actually mean the upcoming March 21st "Round 3", or the Jan 4th deadline "Round 2"?

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20 Feb 2013, 12:20

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finished interview 2 hours ago with 2nd year student (skype)I think my overall performance is good. some issue with the connexion; I cannot see my interviewer, some interruptions during discussion.Hope to receive good news in the couple of weeks.

Questions:Tell me about yourself?Why mba?Why Duke?Short-term /long-term goal?What preparation for mba in regard to finance,accouting (as i came from technology)?Failure example?Teamwork experience?Leadership example?Leader that inspire you?Your leadership at Duke?

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Hey guys I'm a Round 1 admit and here's where I'm at with the background check below.

Paid and filled out form 2/11

Received payment confirmation 2/14 (I called them to see where it was at and jumpstarted the process). If its been three days and you haven't received a confirmation email definitely call them.

Contacted my Employer 2/15 (Revera told my employer they are back logged with verifications so they are moving through them)

Contacted my recommender 2/20Still waiting as of today.

I wouldn't worry about the process as it's just a formality. Just make sure that you send a heads up email to your recommender (I would include your resume as a courtesy) and your employer (unless you are doing a hold). If you request a hold you won't receive an email until the hold is released. Hope this helps.

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04 Mar 2013, 09:30

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rocket1741 wrote:

Thanks for the responses guys. So if I get invited for an interview at a top school, should I still worried about the GMAT score? I interviewed at a top school, and think it went well, but I am still worried that they might reject me based on my GMAT score.

I have ADHD as well. I actually did mention it in my Duke application, though I didn't mention it in any of my other applications. I briefly talked about my experiences in my 25 things essay. If you do mention it, don't make it sound like an excuse or complaint, rather talk about what you've learned or how you've grown. My blurb on it was one line and the way I framed it I don't think it will hurt me, but you never quite know. It really depends on who is reading the application and whether they are sympathetic and understand ADHD. I did get a RD 2 interview so so far I don't think it's hurt me too bad, but we'll see if I get accepted.

Of course my GMAT is strong and I didn't get any accommodations with the test, but my undergrad transcripts and GPA are pretty meager - 3.2 GPA with multiple failed classes.

But like someone else mentioned, take your meds and retake the GMAT. you'll have a hard time getting in with a 600 I'd think.

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04 Mar 2013, 12:50

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rocket1741 wrote:

I am a Rd3 applicant with a very low GMAT (low 600s). I also have been diagnosed with ADHD by a professional. Do you think it will be safe to disclose it to the adcom committee? What's Duke's policy on that? I have never taken the GMAT under special conditions, but now seriously considering it. Rest of my profile pretty strong, i think.

Just wanted to hear from the experts on this forum.

I would be leery of revealing that I had ADHD, especially if you're using it to say that's why you didn't do well on X, Y, or Z. The first question they'll ask themselves is "Will he be able to handle our MBA program then?" You don't want to tell them that you're not good at something without explaining how you've overcome it, and I don't see ADHD as something you just "overcome." I'd say you're better off retaking the GMAT with special conditions.

Important note: schools cannot discriminate based on disability, so it would in fact be illegal to reject you for this reason, but your low GMAT is reason in and of itself, so I wouldn't give them any more reason. That said, I am NOT AN EXPERT. I just want you to consider all sides and maybe call them yourself (without revealing your name).
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Blogging about the MBA application process. Because I need to do something with all this bschool energy. http://www.mybreakaway.com/ Recent post: September 20, "Transitions"

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No I haven't taken any meds yet. I think I will start taking them, just for the exam. I grew up in North Africa where ADHD is not known, and people usually call it laziness. Thanks for the response.

Just some advice, if you're going to take meds for the test, take all of your practice test under the same conditions... Everyone reacts differently to them, and you may end up with an adverse reaction. Good luck!

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I wonder why it is ranked #11 in US news but #6 in BusinessWeek? Anyone knows how US News comes up with their rankings? Ross is #14, which doesn't seem right.

I think that's because they use different metrics. I personally think US News is probably the most accruate ranking, however I don't believe that Stern is better than Duke. But, all Top 9 ranked schools look reasonable.
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I remember hearing somewhere that some schools only use your official transcript to verify your scores before they admit you. I think it means that you are on the "admitted" list and someone in adcom is just making sure that you didn't lie on the app. Given the timing, I doubt that they are just reviewing your app. Go buy yourself a drink!
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13 Mar 2013, 15:10

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joes310 wrote:

question for you guys: Im on the WL for Fuqua but I was admitted into Ross today. I consider both of them my top school so I'd really like fuqua to accept me so that I can check out BDW. Do you think I should inform admissions of my Ross acceptance before they send out R2 deadlines? Will this have any effect this late in round 2? I feel a little bad for using them as leverage against eachother.

In my opinion its risky to send an update 2 business days before the deadline. I think the decisions are probably made by now. If you don't get in on Monday (knock on the wood), I think you can send one then.

btw, Congrats on Ross. Its a pretty good school also.
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